A honorable mention is due to the mod Black Mesa which continues to poll extremely strongly year after year, but misses out on a place in the top 5 because you cannot win a spot in the best unreleased category twice.

5.Operation Black Mesa - Prepare to go back to Black Mesa... again. Operation Black Mesa is an extended re-creation of the popular Half Life add-on, Opposing Force. You'll once again be strapping on the boots of Corporal Adrian Shepard as you make your way through the revamped and albeit highly detailed Black Mesa Research Facility. Additionally, the team plans to add new areas and enemies to the fray so this unofficial redux has more to look forward to than just eye candy. It looks to be a promising effort from team behind Operation Black Mesa, which is why players chose it as there number five spot for unreleased mod of the year.

4.Mechwarrior: Living Legends - Looking at this mod makes one wonder, who doesn't like robots? The MechWarrior: Living Legends team hopes to satisfy your thirst for robotic destruction on wide open environments and look good while doing it. So far, the updates have been fast and furious, showing a number of fancy mechs armed to the teeth. Of most interest are the videos like the one below which show some of the environments where battles will take place. If MechWarrior is sure to take full advantage of all the features the CryEngine 2 has to offer, this mod won't be a disappointment. Players voted MechWarrior: Living Legends number four for unreleased mod of the year.

3.Barney's Tales - Did I say we were done with the Black Mesa Research Facility? Well, we aren't. This time you will be dressed in security apparel as you play the role of the infamous Barney from the Half Life series. Barney's Tales (formerly Blue Shift: Source) is an unofficial remake of the the last expansion pack release for the aging Half Life 1. This remake is expected to focus more on realism, using real-world US Army soldiers as a reference. Drivable vehicles are also planned. Together with other projects being developed out there, it looks like we'll be able to play through the original series all over again in the Source engine sometime in the future. To add to the lavishly detailed media they've already released, the folks over at Barney's Tales have put together an exclusive video sneak peak for us which you can look at below. Barney's Tales comes in at number 3 for unreleased mod of the year.

2.Jurassic Park - Jurassic Park the movie is one that sticks in the minds of many. It set a new standard and brought terrifying monsters to life on the silver screen; creatures that, long ago, actually existed. The Jurassic Park mod team has set out with the aim to capture the same magic that both the movie and book encapsulated and bring it to the CryEngine 2. In the mod, players will be put into the shoes of Dr. Alan Grant, paleontologist extaordinaire, as you make your journey to get off the island. Few games out there have been able to pull off dinosaurs convincingly so the team has their work cut out for them. However, from the concepts and renders provided so far, they have gained a lot of interest and seem to be off to a good start. As a treat, we have a first look at a fully textured Velociraptor for your perusal further down. Fans obviously can't get enough dinos and that's why Jurassic Park is the number two unreleased mod of the year.

1.Zombie Panic: Source - A zombie outbreak has made your town, with the exception of a select few, void of any life. All that remains are the undead and you, along with a few other survivors, have to fight them off with whatever means possible. What do you do? Do you stick together or fan out and search for ammo? The premise behind Zombie Panic is simple: survival. While the mod is available to download now, (it was unreleased before voting had begun, therefore in the unreleased category) it was quite apparent throughout development that this project would be one out of the many zombie survival mods out there to deliver the goods. Stunning visuals, eerie music and top-notch voice work help make the paranoia seem just a little bit too real. The more weaponry you pick up, the more you slow down- making you an easy target to munch on. The further a round progresses, the deeper the feeling of desperation sets in as you run thin on ammunition and the undead grow in numbers. Whether you're running away from the shambling hordes or hunting for players to tear limb from limb Zombie Panic delivers on all fronts. If you want a quick peek at the gameplay, check out the exclusive trailer below. Players hungered for a taste of Zombie Panic, more than any other mod, which is why it was voted as the number one unreleased mod of the year.

Why would anyone give this post negative votes? It's a list of factual statements. Are those mods listed "Licensing rip-off*" not licensing rip-offs? Is the mod listed "Zombie mod" not a zombie mod? Do the glut of war games not feature guns and planes and tanks?

If all top ten MOTY mods can be put into 3 very simple categories, don't we need something to support originality?

Just because they are choosing not to take legal action doesn't mean that you're not violating the law.

And even if you got in writing it still wouldn't change the fact that you're capitalizing on the hard work of hundreds of highly paid professionals, their advertising campaign, and the inherent popularity of HL2. All reasons why I suggested there be an "originality" category for non-IP infringing mods.

I'll settle for calling anything that doesn't fall into those three categories as original.

And please, if you're about to say, "well your definition of 'original' isn't the same as everyone else's", save it; those three categories account for over 90% of the MOTY nominees, i.e., they are unoriginal.

Well to be perfectly honest it doesn't matter what the winners fall under as they were chosen by the majority of players "Players Choice". FYI Zombie Panic was the first MP Zombie mod and the first to include player controlled Zombies and other features that are only now popular with zombie mods. If you're bitter cause your mod or the mod you prefer wasn't placed, I don't see the point in complaining here or see what you're trying to prove.

Yes, of course anyone who complains is automatically bitter. There couldn't be a single legitimate reason to complain.

...Or no wait, could it be that I'm stating an obvious fact? That these mods are easily categorized and unoriginal? And that half of them are ineligible for voting because they violate copyright law and moddb.com's TOS?

Anyways, what's your beef? Are you angry because I called your MOD, ZOMBIE Panic Source a ZOMBIE MOD? I don't know what I was thinking. I must've invented the term "zombie mod" off the top of my head, since there certainly aren't enough mods featuring zombies to necessitate such a phrase.

mike why are you angry? people vote for what they think is fun. if you make an origional game but it's actually not as fun as the one where you run people down in a tank or get all sorts of realistic guns you've seen in movies, then people are going to vote for the one they enjoy the most.

and some of the games in that list ARE very origional, the gameplay of some of them is nothing like any other game or mod out today.

Glad you asked. As a general rule, it's just in my nature, lol. But in particular, as is relevant here, liscensing rip-offs make me very, very angry.

Half of the mods here are being awarded cash and prizes for THEFT. They are relying on hundreds of highly paid professionals who have toiled for years to do their design and narrative work for them. They are relying on multi-million dollar multi-nationals to do their PR work for them.

This has THREE huge consequences that jeopardizes the true "make something different" mod community.

1. It discourages innovation.

2. It jeopardizes the "true-fan" mods by violating the unwritten rule of "you can use our IPs so long as you don't profit from your creation". By violating this unwritten rule, these mods may very well bring about a resurgence of C&D orders.

3. By capitalizing on a world-wide ready-made fan base cultivated by the hard work of others, these mods drain the modding talent pool and cannibalize the mod fan base. As a result, the few original, innovative games out there cannot recruit.

So in short I'm angry because half of the top 10 MOTY mods are unoriginal, and I'm even angrier because the other half violate the law, the "make something different" ethos of modding, moddb.com's TOS, and profit from THEFT.

i mean, please elaborate as to how empires is a licencing rip off? There arn't ANY other games out there in the same universe as the empires universe, and there arn't any commercial or modded games that are rts/fps hybrid and give players vehicles. I'm just picking that one because i know it's especially inventive.

have you even played the mods you're insulting, or just looking at the pictures and claiming that they suck.

You're welcome to assume what you want but I made my observation over the fact that you seem to be upset that people like these games (thus being chosen as top 10 by players) and that they're not completely original (as in they use themes that have been done before). I guess once it's been done there is no room for improvement, or that others can't make a version that fits their vision of it. As for calling my mod a Zombie mod... What else could you call it? City mod? Gun mod? I mean it has those too, where's the insult in that label? We started it so why shouldn't we improve on our own work?

Again i'm all for unique and original ideas (which I believe my mod is guilty of even if others imitate it) but your idea of what the modding community should do doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do. And this Award show is just as legal as donations so take a deep breath and spend all this wasted energy on making your mod worth playing, instead of trying to discredit modders and their work. And seriously? Zombie mod? lol

"And this Award show is just as legal as donations so take a deep breath and spend all this wasted energy on making your mod worth playing, instead of trying to discredit modders and their work."

Accepting donations for a copyright-infringing mod certainly wouldn't be legal.

Further, if simply stating facts (such as "this mod is a licensing rip-off") discredits a mod, than it certainly isn't any of my doing, but the fault of the modders themselves and their IP thievery. Similarly, if I were to say, "Zombie Panic Source essentially tricked users for votes prior to their release" is it my fault that you're reputation suffers, or your own?

That's called "slander" making up false accusations either based off rumor or out of spite and only proves that you're quite bitter. Again why waste ours and your time when you could be doing something productive or is it you're incredibly insecure and are lashing out as a means to vent or justify your insecurities?

That's called "fact". I have it on good authority from the owner of the moddb.com website, whose post at the top of this page I'm paraphrasing. In case your scroll button is broken I'll repost INtense!'s comment for you. You can go and accuse him of "slander" and being "bitter".

"Also a number of members alerted us to them essentially tricking users for votes prior to their release."

(BTW, your crazy, baseless accusation of "slander" will sound more officious if you use the proper term "libel". That's a present from me to you)

Since being angry about people profiting from theft and cheating is certainly justifiable, making inane accusations regarding me being "bitter" or "insecure" is a fairly transparent ploy to try and distract everyone from the fact that you cheated.

I can't prevent people from making false accusations. And I see nothing wrong with INtense or ModDB investigating said false accusations. But it doesn't change the fact that they are false accusations. So get your "facts" straight :) I have no problem saying that Intense used the wrong sentence in replying to those comments. Your trolling isn't gonna make your mod any better :/

Congratulations to all the participants ! Some surprises in the unreleased category for me (never thought Barney's Tales and Operation Black Mesa would score so high), and I do miss Fortress Forever and/or Dystopia in the main category.

Did you care to read my earlier posts before posting nonsense? I don't think so...

Cut and paste from an earlier post;

"And even if you got in writing it still wouldn't change the fact that you're capitalizing on the hard work of hundreds of highly paid professionals, their advertising campaign, and the inherent popularity of HL2. All reasons why I suggested there be an "originality" category for non-IP infringing mods."

In my initial post I refer to Mechwarrior as a "Liscensing rip-off" which I didn't necessarily mean as synonymous with "illegal liscensing rip-off", but rather wanted to drive home the point that it's not original and that you are relying on the 20+ years of hard work by others who have made the Battletech IP popular to help secure your position.

Kudos on getting the non-commercial license though, that sets you apart from 99% of the other "Licensing rip-offs".

I honestly see where mikejkelley is coming from. Yes he is going way over the top, but in essence he is annoyed that so many of the top mods are those which take materials from previous games/films.

There is a difference between taking inspiration, and basing a mod off something else. For instance, Wheels of war takes inspiration from Carmageddon singleplayer - but no where in the mod will you see 'max damage' and his vehicles. Everything in the mod is concieved from scratch with no prior art(s) to work from. Of course, this is in addition to gameplay changes; it is not a port or copy afterall. It allows us to experiment. It allows us to make mistakes. It allows us to do what the modding scene intended and evolve something new.

In the same way, I do not think the modding scene should be populated with mods that take a previous IP, and just spice up the graphics. As you point out MWLL has permission to use previous works which is great (and 100% should have been done), but, when it comes down to it, it's a recreation of work already done (If you have new gameplay elements i'd be glad to hear them, unfortunately I never got into MechWarrior heavily so dont know). Also, the ability to use a trademark in a mods name is not something I want to see adopted as a whole; the PR value within that one item is way more important than the content of the mod, unfortunately.

Probably more than my 2 cents, but what I am trying to say is that it is understandable some people are angry about this outcome. It's tough being a modder (especially on new engines with the assets required), trying to get something original is harder than ever and its a shame some are being pushed over by those who have already got a headstart on concepts.

Plus because the HL remakes are on the source engine, Valve have clearly shown their support for such mods and therefore these are not illegal rips either.

That leaves only one mod Jurassic park which at this stage is simply a proof of concept and therefore in interesting territory. I don't know the full background situation there, however i'm sure they are aware of their situation and it is something we will monitor.

Your main beef is that this list seemingly lacks originality. I agree with you to an extent regarding this, i.e. it does feel like there is a war and remakes theme, but the winners Insurgency, BTRL and ZPS are all amazing pieces of work, as are the runners up irrespective of this fact.

The best we can do each year, is look at what has happened in the past and learn from that. This year it seems there is a need for an "originality category" for the mods that truly try something totally different, and that is a theme we will look to integrate into future award programs.

I'm certainly disappointed (to varying degree) in the lack of originality, it either speaks very poorly of what we are capable of as the modding community or what the mod playing community desires, but my biggest beef is with the teams who profit from theft (i.e. anyone who doesn't have it in writing) or cheat (which in previous years was grounds for automatic disqualification).

I'm very happy to hear that moddb.com is considering adding an originality category and hope that it will result in the community returning to its' roots and doing what it does best; innovate!

[Whine alert!] Insurgency is high quality, but to be honest the gameplay is basically DoD with other models and maps. I don't understand the talk about "guerilla tactics or convential warfare" - it's about rushing and respawning in waves. Besides, I'm sure CoD4 have the whole "semi-realism in a modern setting yet not strictly Counter-Strike-ish"-genre pretty much covered already.

Im my opinion mods are about originality and that's why Empires should have won (and because it's a great mod of course).

to be fair editors choice is where the innovative and original mods normally shine, players are obviously going to vote more for a mod they find fun than one they find original, and if thats saying that most players are narrow minded and shallow id probably agree, but that doesnt mean innovative and original mods dont get any credit

I must say; I think it's time the MotY introduced clear categories for genres. All of these mods are deserving, but it's getting a little tiring seeing FPS's once again clean out the awards. If other genres are to get the spotlight, there needs to be a number of genre-based categories.

The reason this has always been a problem is that you want games that have no user base or community interest winning awards cause they got 3 votes and no one else cared to vote for anything but games they actual play and enjoy. Some variety couldn't hurt but you're always gonna argue "well my game is special" For example when we created Zombie Panic we were a unique and original mod then more and more zombie mods came out and while I love this cause I'm a fan of survival horror games our original idea is all of a sudden "another zombie mod" lol. And how do you decide what genre is what? I mean most people arguing over genre/variety in awards are pretty much your standard FPS HL2/UT2k4 mod with some gimmick like cellshading and cheesy hand to hand combat action. It's not a new genre its just done differently like every single FPS out there can claim. Sounds like an impossible task to split everything up and still be fair and have mods actually work for their awards. Rather than pleasing a small group of ppl. This year was a good year and I am quite happy with the results. Player choice should be that Player choice. Though I guess if possible some categories like

Wow, you rly are quite transparent. There really is no point in arguing that your mod, a Source generation zombie mod, is or was ever unique. Quit kidding yourself, ZP:S is not responsible for the popularity of the many many

So you're still angry that I called your MOD, ZOMBIE Panic Source a ZOMBIE MOD, huh? Wow. There really is no point in arguing that your mod, a Source generation zombie mod in the well established horror survival genre, is all that original. No one believes it. Nor does anyone believe, as you seem to imply, that ZP:S is responsible for the seemingly viral outbreak of the popularity of Zombie Mods.

In fact, since there are so many zombie mods and they wind up winning every year, I'll meet you half-way and suggest that there be a zombie mod category.

"I mean most people arguing over genre/variety in awards are pretty much your standard FPS HL2/UT2k4 mod with some gimmick like cellshading and cheesy hand to hand combat action."

Lol, "most people", huh? That's funny, because there's only ONE mod I know of that fits that description (aside from gimmicky and cheesy). If you really want to specify which mod you're trying to defame, add "an original story-line, concept, characters, and design work". That RLY narrows it down, lol.

No I don't mind that you call my ZOMBIE MOD a "zombie mod" as I stated previously. That's exactly what it is... Why would anyone be insulted by this? As for Zombie Panic being original and unique we were one of the first ever MP Zombie game/mods released and the first ever to introduce player controlled zombies. We have moved to source and just recently released our mod for the 2nd time, but that doesn't make our work any less original when it was ours to begin with whether or not others imitated the work. They Hunger, Zombie Panic, NMRiH, and D.E.A.D all got an early start and are the reason "Zombie Mods" are popular and are themselves quite original for when they started no one knew much of anything about Zombie Games besides a few classics. Something to be proud of and a rather sad attempt at an insult lol.

"In fact, since there are so many zombie mods and they wind up winning every year"
Seriously atleast research before you open your mouth, Zombie Panic: Source is the first ever Zombie mod to win one of these awards thus far and seriously there are hardly that many Zombie mods. Headcrab alien controlling a dead corpse is not a "Zombie Mod" that would be a"Science Fiction Mod".

I can't help that no one is interested in your mod, and just cause you call it "original" haven't read/seen anything original but not my point, doesn't mean its fun. Your mod is visually unappealing and sounds extremely boring. Unlike you I won't pretend to be the voice of everyone (which obviously you're not hehe) but I will say that you're making a fool of yourself by trolling. Should be proud of the work these modders have done, the time they spent on their mods when they could have been spending the time with their families, out with friends, or just relaxing. For some modding is a hobby, others a chance to get their foot in the door. You've already been corrected for falsely accusing 2 mods of "cheating" and/or breaking copyright laws. Stick your foot in it.

"As for Zombie Panic being original and unique we were one of the first ever MP Zombie game/mods released and the first ever to introduce player controlled zombies."

So playing as the bad guys is a new concept, huh?

"the reason "Zombie Mods" are popular and are themselves quite original for when they started no one knew much of anything about Zombie Games besides a few classics."

So you're saying no one knew about Zombie Games except for the knowing about the extremely, platinum-selling, classically popular Zombie Games?

um, ok...

Why do you care that I've pointed out the obvious, that your mod is unoriginal? The idea was to point out the need for an originality category, not as a personal attack. If you were ever truly concerned about originality, you wouldn't have made a zombie mod.

"Unlike you I won't pretend to be the voice of everyone (which obviously you're not hehe)"

No, but in recent polls it seems an overwhelming majority would like to see more original mods. And I didn't even have to trick anyone to get those numbers.

Remember unpopular doesn't mean it's original, it just means... it's unpopular. I was sad to see however no Unreleased Indie game category this year as I was looking forward to Chris's "The Hunted Chronicles" which is really shaping up nicely. Need more voters to vote on multiple categories so quality Indie games like his don't get over looked.

1. Tributes to our favorite games and/or movies.
2. Additional story lines or parallel worlds to games/movies we enjoyed.
3. Simulations of real world conflicts which might be popular but doesn't mean its been done the same way before.
4. Unique and semi-original worlds from our own imagination.
5. Whatever we want to make.

For the most part we do this for ourselves but we also do it for the community and for no profit. Our mods are free to all but ourselves where we spend money maintaining our sites, forums, servers, etc and spend our weekends and free time after school/work to create something we want to play. We're grateful for those that support us and sites like ModDB that let our hard work shine. We didn't create these mods to win prizes and when we do it doesn't make our work any less valuable. I'm not a fan of Commercial title remakes but no one but the copyright holders have any say in this.

To all ModDB award winners since 2002 great work and congradulations! To all those mods who have never won an award. I look forward to playing your games and hope you enjoy mine, goodluck in 2008! Don't let anyone discourage you from creating your perfect world or in my case perfect nightmare.

Congrats to all the winners, especially Red Alert: A Path Beyond. The w3d engine used for C&C Renegade lives on!

It's a shame that we didn't get an unreleased indie game category but I guess that's how it goes eh. This year could you please put up statistics of how many votes each mod/indie game got please? I was looking for it last year but it never appeared.

Project Reality gets #2 slot for the second year running. Keeping the streak alive!

I think that FPS games get all the top awards is for several reasons. Lots of people play them and thus vote for them. More people mod these games because in general they are quite moddable, you need models, skins and some python along with a vision of course.

Great mods all around though. I have a few I want to try now. So long as everyone tries Project Reality of course. This is not vanilla BF2, this is tactical combat on an unprecedented scale(except for OFP, ArmA and JO of course).

This was an amazing feature. Truly, it puts a lot of television features to shame with the quality of production. Let the subject matter speak for itself. Don't detract from it. Two rules often forgotten by modern producers, but not forgotten here. Great work ModDB.

My hearty congratulations to the winners too. I've got a lot of new games to check out now, and it'll take a while to try them all out.

I also gotta say, I look forward to a lot of the upcoming mods featured here. Living Legends, you guys have produced one of the most amazing level scapes I have ever seen. It was...beautiful. Simply...wondrous...

Jurassic Park team, you guys definitely picked a subject matter that commands my immediate attention. Your work looks amazing, and when you release your mod I may just have to pick up a copy of Crysis. ;) I can't wait to explore Isla Nublar...I just hope I survive it.

There's a lot of hard work on display here, hard work and talent. It's amazing that so many people will work on projects such as this, enriching the lives of modern gamers with countless hours spent creating such amazing games, for little to no compensation. Your accomplishments are only topped by your ambition, and you elevate us all with your works. Congrats folks.